By Scott Abel
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The 10-Day Metabolic Slowdown, and the 25-Day Rebound
No study of the biology of weight-control and the ‘true? understanding of metabolism would be complete without revisiting the topic of ?metabolic damage? on several fronts.
In this post I want to look at a very interesting research study on metabolism and the effects of dieting, that was done at The University of Geneva. (You can look at the references for more details.) This study on diet and metabolism involved 3 groups of rats all eating the same quality of food. It is important to keep that distinction in mind as we proceed.
- Group 1: Were adult rats all eating normally
- Group 2: Were adult rats temporarily losing weight by eating less
- Group 3: Were younger rats who were ?naturally? thinner and they weighed about as much as the rats from Group 2 after those rats had dieted and lost weight.
Let’s make a comparison to humans.
- If this study were done on humans then we would say that Group 1, the normal group, would be akin to a typical adult woman around the age of 35.
- Group 2, the ?eat less to lose weight? group, would be this same demographic of women who are now going on a diet, for their wedding or for some high school reunion or whatever, and they are eating?fewer calories and won’t stop until they get to their goal weight or goal dress size (or to fit into their ‘skinny jeans? from years ago, or something).
- Group 3, the naturally thin group, would be represented by those women who are naturally slender and fit into their skinny jeans their whole lives without really dieting to do so.
This makes for an interesting mix and comparison, doesn’t it?
For the first 10 days of the research the Group 2 ?eat less? group of rats ate 50% less than usual, while the Group 1 ?normal group? of rats continued to eat normally. So to translate this to human dieters, compare non-dieting adult women with women out there doing diets like the HCG diet, the Bernstein diet, and so many others that fit your basic ?diet by calorie-restriction? recipe.
On the tenth day of the diet, Groups 1 and 3 kept eating normally. Group 2, the diet-by-caloric-restriction group, stopped the calorie-deprivation dieting and went back to eating normally as well.
This is when the really interesting stuff happened.
The research went on for 35 days. This means that the Group 1 rats ate normally for 35 days. The diet by calorie-restriction Group 2 rats ate less than normal for 10 days in a row, then were allowed to eat ?normally? for the next 25 days. (This does not mean they ate what they wanted. It was controlled so they actually ate the same amount as Groups 1 and 3.) And the Group 3 naturally thinner group of rats ate normally as well for the duration of the study.
So, at the end of the 35 days, what do you think the results of this study were in regards to changes in bodyweight? Look at these results:
At the end of the 35 days the Group 2 ?dieting rats? weighed the most AND they had the highest bodyfat percentage as well!
Even though Group 2 ate less than the other two groups of rats for 10 days, by day 35 they were SIGNIFICANTLY heavier than others.
In short:
Eating less for a sequence of time caused metabolic adjustments that led the Group 2 ?dieting? rats to gain weight. This is what I refer to as ?metabolic damage.
Now, in place of rats, imagine these ladies I made comparisons to above. How many adult women do you know who go on special diets ?just this once,? for some major event in their lives? The result is short-term weight-loss, followed by long-term weight gain and fat gain! Yet people still aren’t listening.
The researchers in this particular study concluded that eating less (as in a calorie-deprivation diet) is actually worse than doing nothing at all. Your body doesn’t know the difference between a temporary diet and starvation. Those are psychological distinctions, not physiological ones.
After a deprivation diet the body’s number one priority is restoring all the bodyfat it surrendered on the diet. It wants it back, ASAP. (After all, who knows when you’ll be starving again!) Your body’s number two priority is to protect itself from this kind of starvation happening again, so the body increases weight and bodyfat mass as well in the post-diet ?rebound? period.
Researchers have labeled this as ?bodyfat supercompensation accumulation,? which your can think of as an off-shoot of what I called ?metabolic damage? back in early 2003.
Other researchers actually argue that this bodyfat supercompensation accumulation effect of dieting can also be a trigger to future weight issues because of the potential Yo-Yo dieting that this effect triggers.
Read these next paragraphs carefully:
This cycle is all-too-common and recognizable. A woman diets for the normal, simple reasons outlined above. She loses weight for some event and everyone comments on how great she looks. Meanwhile, though, her body is now building up defenses against this weight-loss. It is slowing metabolism and slowing the rate it burns calories. To get her to eat more, hunger and appetite centers are lit up into overdrive.
Her short-term ‘successful? weight-loss turns into a long-term nightmare. She gains all the weight back, but she gains even more bodyfat as a percentage as well, all as outlined in the above rat research.
But here’s the difference between the human dieter and the rats:
Now the woman feels embarrassed and she feels shame. (Who likes looking in the mirror, and seeing yourself worse off than you were before?) The supposed solution? Well, she dieted once and lost all the weight, so she knows she can do it again. She just needs to do it ?better and smarter this time.
That is the lie so many dieters tell themselves. So she goes back on a diet and begins the cycle all over again. This is what the researchers mean when they say that the ?bodyfat supercompensation accumulation phase? of diet rebound can be a trigger for future weight-gain and metabolic damage, because this phase of metabolic adaptation itself triggers a cycle of ?Yo-Yo? dieting, because of psychological and emotional triggers.
Here is more sobering information about what happens next for the chronic dieter.
Researchers are now finding out something else I’ve been arguing for more than a decade now. When it comes to metabolic damage in the post-diet rebound period, this ?bodyfat supercompensation accumulation phase? does not require someone to eat ?a lot? in order to keep putting on bodyfat!
The fact is, that just by going to back to eating ?normally,? like the dieting rats in this study, you can still gain a massive amount of weight quickly, even though these rats were only eating the same amount of food as the Group 1 and Group 3 control group rats for the last 25 days of the study.
As I outlined above, eating less also slows metabolism. When you subject a slowed, sluggish, or burned out metabolism to even ?normal? amounts of food and exercise as a comparison control group, then these subjects will still gain more bodyfat as a result of the previous diet and its effect on the metabolic and hormonal and internal biochemical systems of the body.
The researchers in this excellent study illustrated that the Group 2 ?dieting rats? were burning bodyfat 500% less efficiently, and that their metabolism was correspondingly slowed down by 15% by the end of the study.
Remember: the rats dieted only 10 days and the diet-rebound period was a follow up of only 25 days. But by the end, the Group 2 rats weighed the most!
Also as an important side note: when diet-by-calorie-deprivation produces this kind of response, the worst thing you could do at that point is ?add cardio? to try to burn fat. To ?attempt? to tap into the aerobic energy system when it is damaged this way is likely to further metabolic damage and hormonal disruption. That 15% slowed-down metabolism could easily become 20-25%. You may ?feel better? psychologically by thinking you are ?doing something about the problem,? but you are likely making things worse for yourself, not better.
Researchers around the globe are now piecing together the ?damaging? effects of prolonged and even short-term ongoing calorie-deprivation diets. While I categorized all these consequences under one umbrella I termed ?metabolic damage,? researchers are now looking at very specific metabolic consequences such as the ones outlined above, often referred to as ?metabolic dysregulation? in the research.
But researchers are also looking at negative hormonal and internal biochemical consequences of dieting as well. As I pointed out in my book, The Anti-Diet Approach to Weight-Loss and Weight-Control, the heaviest and fattest demographic population on the planet are those who report to belonging to the demographic of being ?chronic dieters.
What this research also illustrates is that the proper way to control weight is not via ?quantity? of calorie intake, but rather through ?quality? food choices, natural whole foods as often as possible.
About the Author
Scott Abel is a former professional bodybuilder and coach to over 400 fitness and bodybuilding champions at the National level and beyond.Learn more from?his broad spectrum of work at www.scottabelfitness.com. You can also hear Scott on the 180D podcast. On April 6th, get three of his newly-released eBooks on Amazon for just 99 cents each. Click HERE.
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References
Abel, Scott ?The Anti-Diet Approach to Weight-Loss and Weight-Control?
Bailor, Jonathon ?The Calorie Myth? 2014
Young, EA et al, ?Hepatic Response to a Very-Low-Energy-Diet and Refeeding in Rats? American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1993 ? (also in Pubmed PMID: 8503353)
So what if you dieted once, like, 2 years ago, for, like, 3-6 months? And you got much fatter than you were before. Will that weight ever come down to normal or is your new “set point” going to stay high forever?
This is what I’m wondering too. I don’t think anything’s set in stone, and I’m all ears for any innovative ideas…but it isn’t looking good for people that’ve done that, myself included.
It really depends Anna. I’ve seen people of all ages, sizes, and histories lose weight after non-dieting for an extended period of time. And I mean truly non-dieting, as in eating exactly how much of whatever you want. But that still seems to be a rarity for most. Those that do succeed often don’t lose an ounce for 2+ years of maintaining their higher rebound set point. So there’s really no hard and fast rule or prediction that can be made. It’s really up to your body whether it wants to lose weight or not. If it doesn’t, it’s awfully hard to intentionally “try” to do anything about it without forcing the same negative reaction. At least it is as far as I know.
Before anorexia, I averaged about 145lbs at 5’11”. My lowest weight was 115-118lbs.
After recovery, which took a couple years, I’m staying solid at about 195lbs. My waistline around my navel is just shy of 40″. The only other time it was close to that was when I was a young teenager and my psychiatrist put me on Zyprexa.
I’m getting kind of discouraged. I’m only 25 years old, but I’m very self-conscious about my beer belly. Most guys don’t get this until they’re in their 40’s or later.
I’m never dieting again, especially after my history with anorexia. I just wonder how much the anorexia contributed to my current beer gut.
Although I was always thin up until after I recovered from anorexia. That was around the time I found this blog and incorporated normal amounts of calories back into my life.
I was happy about the weight gain at first. I seem to have stabilized where I am now, and my weight fortunately hasn’t fluctuated much from 195 for some months now. But the gut really doesn’t look good, and that isn’t all — I still feel exhausted and fatigued and have brain fog like I used to, despite my temperature running very close to 98.6F most of the time now, whereas it was 95.9F most of the time before.
I wonder if I’m hypersensitive to diet now. I find that even very minor changes, e.g. delaying breakfast by an hour, or working harder at work (manual labor job), ruins me. If I’m not on a very tight schedule, I get wrecked.
Miss one meal and I feel just like I did when I was anorexic, with all the exhaustion/feeling like weights are strapped to my body and my brain goes down the drain.
So I don’t know what hope there is for me at this point. I’ve been in recovery literally for years but I seem to be stuck and can’t move forward.
That being said, I’ve at least learned this: DIETING DOESN’T WORK. It kills me to see people ruining themselves, and they’re not even aware of what they’re doing.
One of my old friends started doing a bodybuilding competition thing, and she literally is starving herself. Dropping her bodyfat percentage SEVERELY for the competition, and guess what…..almost NOTHING on FB from her for the past couple months, but posts about food. Like craving food and pictures of pizza and cake and things like that, which of course she isn’t eating.
It’s just so obvious to me now, but so frustrating to see people going down such a similar path that I did, and doing so much damage to their health without realizing it.
They’ll realize it eventually — when it’s too late. The mainstream message needs to change to the lines of this post: get the message out about metabolic damage.
Once you’ve dug yourself into the hole, it’s hell trying to get out. If people never even dug themselves into this hole to begin with they’d be INFINITELY better off. After all, all the stupid, idiotic things I did (calorie restriction combined with intermittent fasting and heavy amounts of exercise, often in a fasted state) were based on a complete misunderstanding of the body. A lot of websites and health ‘authorities’ will have you believe that it’s HEALTHY to starve yourself and over-exercise — no pain, no gain.
Sigh…
I can relate to what you’re describing, Jib. But my extreme behavior was centered more around exercise (with some moderate food restriction). I did CrossFit for 5 years and then got the flu, and that started nearly 2.5 years of fatigue problems. I don’t think CrossFit itself was the problem because I felt fantastic doing it 3x/week. But then I needed to add a 4th day! And then I needed to add coaching!
I’m gobs better now fatigue-wise, but when I try to do a little bit of exercise (30 mins of walking or 10-15 reps of a few bodyweight movements), my body is like, “Don’t even!” It sets me back. But so does stress or a busy day or two. What is this? Adrenal fatigue? How I miss my beloved hiking, but it’s just not possible right now.
I think getting back into good physical condition after something like that Sarah is a matter of starting extremely small and introducing the tiniest increases in workload until you start to pick up a little momentum. Maybe it takes you 6 months to get to where you can walk 30 minutes without a negative reaction. Maybe you’ll have to start with 5 minutes twice a week and add one minute to your walks each week to get there. But at least you fix the problem and can continue to build back up until you’re where you want to be. Or at least back to an acceptable, functional place.
I had this happen, too. It’s been a couple of years and I’ve come to the conclusion (and total acceptance) that walking and yoga are my body’s preferred movement. Once I accepted this without any thought, I dropped the excessive 10 lbs. I was carrying for years and all with throwing any food consideration out the window. The mind plays a massive role in this nightmare.
“So I don’t know what hope there is for me at this point. I’ve been in recovery literally for years but I seem to be stuck and can’t move forward.”
Get the thermometer out and start by taking your temperature to see where you currently range…above 98 degrees or below in the 97 degrees range. If you are in the 97 degrees then you should buy the book Eat for Heat and get a lot of sleep. Minimum 9 hours at a stretch. On your day/s off, sleep in until you wake up naturally. Even if that means you sleep for 12 hours or more.
If anyone attempts to label you as lazy or anti-social, tell them to take a hike.
Consider yourself having been sick and that you need the extra rest, for a long time. Your body will tell you when. When it’s had enough or needs more.
And stay off the scale for at least 7 days at a stretch or more. If you do look at the number because you are feeling lighter, then just note the number. You can be pleased that your body is smarter than you are, and then continue eating as before without the stupid thinking that eating less will help lose faster. NOT!
And yes, I believe strongly that anyone who has anorexic tendencies carries those tendencies forever and you’ll always have to be mindful to eat on time. No more ignoring hunger…waiting to eat until it’s convenient or tastier than the choices presented right now.
Eat promptly when you start thinking about food, even if it’s just something to tide you over to a meal you prefer, but make it substantial enough to not allow any gnawing feeling of hunger. Which means you may need to start carrying food with you if you don’t do so already.
So what if it isn’t a meal time, or an actual ‘meal.’ People are meant to eat when hungry, not by some clock. Nor by some idea that a particular collection of foods is considered a ‘meal.’
So, eat that preferred meal later than planned, when you are again hungry.
You can check in with your gut when you are collecting foods that may be needed for a quick meal later in the day. It will tell you what it needs and what will digest the best. Trust it.
Yes, even if it’s cookies and cold milk in a cold thermos or you keep in a small/or large well insulated cooler. Get one on wheels to make it handy to take to your office (and out of the hot car). Room enough to carry other things if you desire.
Yes, invest in a nice cooler and ice packs and other food and drink containers, etc. for feeding yourself when and where necessary. Also some microwave safe containers to reheat foods.
Both Rubbermaid brand (plastic containers) and Snapware brand (Pyrex glass and plastic containers) have four sides snap-closed lids to prevent leakage. There may be other brands with these qualities…Tight closure, and oven or microwave safe.
I have a sturdy pencil case to carry stainless steel forks, spoons, knives rather than weak plasticware utensils. These stainless utensils are not the regular kitchen set, but a old unused set or collection from the thrift store that I like the hand and mouth feel.
If you have an office or even share an office space with others on rotating shifts that has room for a personal refrigerator or microwave/toaster oven, then get them and use them. Go in together or each purchase an appliance and mark it with the name of the purchaser…to take if you leave that job. The next person or group to work that job can find the way and means to supply their own appliances.
To sum it up, only until I did all the above did my size start to ever so slowly begin to reduce….and it’s only been around 10 pounds so far over that last 3-4 months. My ideal is for 128 to 135, although my body will decide what my ideal weight or size is at nearly 60 years old. It rules, and it always has, in spite of any of my ideas or attempts to attain a certain weight or size.
The tool to best measure body heat mastery is the thermometer. Get to really know what properly warm really feels like. Your body and gut will thank you.
And should you believe you need a little thyroid help and your physician/s are not on board with it, see Amazon and Thailand sellers of Thiroyd. Your body and thermometer will guide you.
Excellent, Ann b.! :-)
My temps have come up, used to be 95.9 a couple years ago all day every day, after a couple years my temps are now at 98.0 almost all the time.
Could do better at 98.6, and if my temps were regularly 98.6, that would give me more of a “buffer” zone. If I’m averaging 98, that’s a hell of a lot better than 95.9, but it’s only .2 degrees between a decent metabolic rate and a slowed metabolic rate. Probably better to vary between 98.6 and 98.0 than 98.0 and 97.5, or something like that.
I felt very stressed yesterday and checked my temp and it was 98, which I was surprised to see, since I’m used to it being much lower.
I’ve found that miso broth or any other simple, salty snack/drink helps me more than sugar. I still have plenty of sugar in my diet, but I seem to get low salt more than anything else, judging by the fact that miso broth will warm my hands and feet right up if I put a good glop of the stuff in there, whereas something like a candy bar doesn’t work anywhere near as well despite the higher sugar and calorie content. Same when I was making fudge with coconut oil and raw honey and cocoa powder — a healthier alternative, but without the salt it just wasn’t warming me up at all.
Just an interesting side note there.
Anyway, the stress of my job and life in general could be keeping me stuck where I am, which I wasn’t considering when I wrote that post.
My temps are definitely higher now, so why would I still feel rage/exhaustion/brain fog/etc.
It’s probably because I’m working a stressful manual labor job and have a domineering, critical asshat for a boss. I haven’t taken my temperature at work, but I can almost guarantee I have a drop in temperature when I feel like throwing a 2×4 at his head.
Extreme rage is one of the hallmark signs for me that I’m stressed out, and it seems to go hand in hand with feeling dizzy/lightheaded/cold hands and feet/brain fog/exhaustion/etc.
I’m not good about bringing snacks to work. I’ll have to make something salty and somewhat sweet and just pack it and have it with me. Even just powdered salt and sugar in a baggie would be better than nothing.
Heh…I thought I was “done” because I finally reached 98 oral temp after literally 2+ years of trying the suggestions on this blog. I’ve been at it for quite a long time and I was getting frustrated thinking I would never recover.
I have a beer belly now but that came with a higher body temperature. If I got another job and developed a social life I have a feeling this would all go much easier for me.
Diet is a HUGE component of all this, and it’s the only thing that can keep our metabolism high, but there are SO MANY things that can DRAIN our metabolism and force it down even if our diet is the most metabolically stimulating diet in the world.
You can be very well fed, but when someone’s breathing down your neck all day and criticizing you every five minutes for no reason…that’ll get to anyone. Pile in near complete social isolation, deaths of family members/pets, loss of friends, etc. —
— I think I focus on nutrition so much because it feels so much easier to control than all these other things, like quitting a job, going out and meeting people, dating, etc., which I’d rather just avoid even though I know avoiding it all is killing me.
As long as we’re talking metabolic rate, while diet is the reigning king, the ‘coal in the fire,’ so to speak, emotional/social stressors can, IMO, exceed our diet’s ability to compensate.
Diet is a huge component, and I’ll always be an advocate of nutrition, especially the ideas I’ve learned about here at 180 — but what I’ve been having to face lately is that in order for me to really be healthy and enjoy life, I have to address the other stressors.
Not to mention that staying up at night thinking about things my boss said to me keeping me from sleeping…that’s definitely not helping either.
Fortunately it does all fit into the metabolic framework, and it makes sense.
Jib-do you happen to take any kind of t3/t4 combo (armour, efra, etc) or t4 only pill/supplement?
Taking any sort of exogenous T4 will act as a “governor” of sorts and limit the resting temperature to 98 degrees. This is a problem people that take any kind of t4 have and dont realize. They are usually just happy their low temps have increased to 98 degrees, but it doesn’t allow them to increase above.
Just thought Id throw that out there as Ive seen countless times where people take NDT but still can’t get above 98 degrees
Do you have any more info on this T4/T3 problem? I noticed two years ago that my temp was 97.4 and a year ago I found out I had high thyroid antibodies and gave up gluten and started Naturethroid. My temp leveled out to 97.8 even after upping my dose. Recently I cut out half and half in my coffee and any ice cream and that gave me a huge boost of energy and upped my temp to 98.2. But my thyroid hormones were never low, it was just my TSH that was elevated and that went up further even after the Naturethroid. Thoughts? And can I really not even hope to repair my metabolism until my temp is at 98.6?
Temps of 98.6 most of the time don’t cut it. It should be daily. Any drops to below 98 and you’ll instantly be back in stress. Cold hands, feet, cold gut and slow motility with reflux, gut pain from bloating (trapped gas), etc. Foggy (can’t concentrate even for mindless television viewing), etc.
Good point.
I think I just mentioned it (I don’t remember even though it was like 1 minute ago….brain fog anyone? Lol)…
…but one of the hallmark signs of stress for me is rage. I was pretty chill for a while but I noticed as the stressors in my life piled up, all the rage came roaring back. I went from being more social and open to hanging out with people, but I had a hellish past couple months in my personal life and at work; things just blew up in so many ways, and after being calm for quite a while now, I just feel like ripping someone’s head off.
Extreme rage is a MAJOR MAJOR sign of stress, and for me is one of the most prominent. So you’re right — temps of 98 or higher most of the time doesn’t cut it. When it dips down, you’re back in the danger zone.
I’m a huge fan of Faster EFT (very different from standard EFT) and was actually working on becoming a practitioner, even had a few clients I worked with and had great results.
I just jumped ship on it. Reverted back to bad habits. But it really, truly works if you use it.
It’s actually a perfect complement to the dietary stuff mentioned here. If you don’t keep yourself fed, and you skip meals, you’ll go back into the stress zone.
Just like if we have emotional stressors come up, and we don’t address them, even if we’re way farther than we used to be, and are doing much better, eventually it’ll drag us right back down to where we were.
A 98.6 temp person will eventually ruin themselves if they keep skipping meals and cutting calories. An emotionally healthy person will eventually ruin themselves if they have emotional stressors come up and they don’t deal with them.
It’s skeletons in the closet. And once they pile up enough the closet is going to burst open and then we’re buried in it and right back where we were.
Daily habits — I’ll have to work hard at this. I was doing a lot better with taking snacks with me, and also using Faster EFT. I would use it at work instead of entertaining fantasies about punching my boss in the face or telling him to f*** off :)
It’s so much easier to not eat, and to stay angry and upset, than it is to deal with it. But only if taking poor care of ourselves is our habit.
I fell off the horse, and need to get back on it. Thanks for the reminders about body temperature and staying well fed, carrying snacks, etc. If I don’t plan ahead I end up just not doing this stuff, despite having the understanding of it. It’s just like the work with Faster EFT — if you don’t use it, it won’t help you.
How easy it is to stop doing what’s good for us….make some progress, figure we’re okay, and then get lazy, and end up right back where we were. Having been anorexic and gone through a lot in my life that damaged my health pretty badly I have to keep in mind that I have to be more strict than I’d like to be with myself, e.g., if I go to bed even an hour late at night, I pay for it in the morning. I don’t do well when I deviate from my routine, and even though I don’t like that, it’s important for me to keep it in mind.
Hey Jib,
what do you like about Faster EFT compared to regular EFT? (Just that it’s faster? lol) I’ve noticed I fall off the EFT wagon too. I don’t know why we fall off the wagon for something that is so spectacular and easy. weird isn’t it?
on a different topic, my carry-around snack is energy nuggets from Natural Grocers (they package their own, but I’m sure there are similar ones elsewhere.) I keep them in my purse and in my car in case I can’t eat a meal when I need to. You could probably salt them if you need more salt.
@ tierney logan
Probably the most impressive thing I’ve done with Faster EFT was getting rid of a lady’s severe migraine headache at work in 10 minutes. This stuff is definitely the real deal.
The main difference is that Faster EFT doesn’t ‘guess.’ The main question is ‘How do you know?’ For example, I asked her to describe the kind of pain she had in her head. Was it sharp, dull, an ache, etc., then tapped on that, then I asked her if she could remember the first time she had a migraine, asked her how she felt when she thought about the fact that she’s been having migraines for over 30 years, etc. —
— Faster EFT incorporates a lot of principles from hypnosis and NLP, and the tapping is secondary to all of that. It focuses on addressing the structure of problems: namely, subconscious belief systems that are supported by emotionally charged memories.
It never claims to know what those belief systems are. We always find out directly by asking questions. So it isn’t about assuming, ever — it’s always asking “How do you know?” and delving deeper and deeper and breaking up the belief systems by getting rid of the ‘proof’ for the belief systems.
e.g., If a person thinks they’re worthless, they need to have the mental resources to maintain that belief, e.g. memories of being picked on, beat up, made fun of, or anything. Faster EFT’s goal is to change or re-imprint those memories so the meaning changes, and a new belief system can be formed and take the place of the old, harmful one.
I’m still working on becoming a practitioner.
Honestly, as far as falling off the wagon goes, I think that’s a program as well. A subconscious program operating on a belief system.
At least for me it is. If you just plain lose interest that’s one thing, but if you find something that truly helps you and you stop doing it even though you know it would help you if you keep doing it…that’s another.
I’m not exactly sure what it is for me. But I definitely know that “something’s up” because it was helping me a lot, and I was doing it daily, but when the idea occurred to me that I could become a practitioner and help people with it, I started flaking to the point of not even doing it on my own in private anymore. It doesn’t seem like it makes sense, but on a personal level, somehow, it does.
The idea being that all these disordered behaviors are a result of programs in our minds working perfectly. We’re doing the best we can to survive. I see this in myself with social isolation. It’s definitely ruining me, but it’s most of what I’ve known and adapted to, so it’s my default response to stress, even though I know when I hang out with people it de-stresses me and when I isolate my stress goes through the roof. Kind of like how people who used to be in solitary confinement will continue to isolate themselves when they get out (Stuart Grassian wrote a whole paper about this called The Psychiatric Harm of Solitary Confinement, or something like that).
Anyway, thanks for asking. Your question actually has sparked a re-interest in FEFT for me, and I feel like getting back to at LEAST taking notes on the videos from the training kit, so I can work towards getting certified (and then you can get listed on the website and get clients easier, etc.).
I work a minimum wage job (which I’m about to go to) that SUCKS, and I’ve avoided using my many talents to get a different career or do anything where I’d make decent money and have an enjoyable life….mistake? I think not.
So with Faster EFT the belief system is very important. It’s a light in the darkness to see the possibility that even if our lives are very screwed up and we feel out of control, those feelings of being out of control are completely in line with what we hold inside our minds. If we knew a better way or had better internal resources we’d act differently — and that’s what Faster EFT aims to achieve.
If you want to learn more, check out the HealingMagic channel on YouTube. I recommend the Habilitat seminars that are about an hour and a half long. Very good intro to the whole thing – highly recommended.
Hi. I really resonate with you. Looking back at my previous pictures, I realize I didn’t really need all that dieting for 10 silly pounds. Now I have 60 pounds I cannot for the life of me lose. Your belly, however, may be from one of two things (in my opinion): cortisol due to constant high stress levels, or very high levels of insulin. If your belly is “hard” instead of “fluffy” it may also be indicative of liver problems. That’s why it is called a “beer belly” because excessive beer damages the liver and liver damage is reflected in a large, hard belly instead of a soft, fluffy one. All this learned from my own research and experience. Of course, you can do your own research and see what comes up. Wish you all the best.
It’s fluffy, fortunately, especially considering that for a while I was drinking a lot of whiskey. Chris Masterjohn had a good article about choline and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, I think called “The sweet truth about egg yolks and liver.” It was about the role of choline in preventing fatty liver, and how the more saturated fat you have in your diet, the more important it is to get enough, or more, choline.
Anyway, that aside, I absolutely agree about cortisol. Whatever it is, I notice that anxiety, rage, depression, fatigue, etc., are all very distinct feelings. Even if they’re on the same spectrum of metabolic dysfunction it’s still interesting to speculate on what exactly causes them on a hormonal level, or what specifically is going on.
Emotional issues are definitely my forte, though, and their impact on our well-being is tremendous. Although of course, they’re both a result and a cause of what our body experiences. So on one hand, emotional issues can be very good cues as to what we need to do with our diet — e.g. eat more calories, include more salt, eat more frequently, drink less water, etc.,
…and on the other hand, they function independently from diet to some degree. So yes, it’s all very interesting…but as far as stress and cortisol go, in my life, social isolation has been one of the most extremely stressful things ever, especially in the long-term. Like regularly going weeks/months without seeing anybody outside of work, having no sex life at all, etc. That REALLY sucks.
Many diets are very isolating, and Matt’s mentioned that a lot. That’s one reason they can be so damaging, on top of the obvious metabolic effects — the social dysfunction and stress that ensues from that.
Loosening up my diet HAS helped that. I don’t get out much, but the times I have, I had zero problems going to buffets or anywhere else anyone wanted to eat, and I had a blast every time. I never would’ve done that before with my eating disorder. So that’s a huge improvement. I try to have a pretty good diet at home but I have no problems eating just about anything at all when I go out with other people. I actually like indulging because I find it enhances the experience and makes everything more fun — all I focus on is enjoying myself as much as possible.
Despite the issues I’ve been having though, I am LIGHT YEARS beyond where I was before I found 180. I take it for granted now that I have all this knowledge about the metabolic rate, taking my temperature, etc., which is so foreign to most people, where to me now it’s just common sense. I forget how much I’ve learned here and how revolutionary so many of the ideas here are. I’ve been at this a while and have been following this blog even longer, but it just inspires me to keep going.
And even though I don’t WANT the beer belly, I would much rather have it and feel like I do these days than trade it in for being thinner but having all my old issues. So being able to accept having a gut, especially having been anorexic and obsessed with my bodyweight, is a sign of a tremendous improvement to me. Even though I’m not ideal yet with my metabolic rate, indicated by my oral temp, I’m a lot better off, and it shows both in my ability to handle my emotions better and my day to day energy levels.
Still not good, but I was basically a zombie before. Only thing that sucks is I can see other people are on the path to crashing and burning when they go on extreme diets, but they don’t want to hear any advice from anyone. Oh well.
Hey jib
Your symptoms sound a lot like adrenal fatigue (fat around the mid section, blood sugar issues, poor metabolism, fatigue). Definitely check it out (I have a history of EDS and am recovering from adrenal stuff. A good naturopath helped me a lot (don’t even bother with allopathic medicine unless it’s a functional med dr)).
reasing your post reminds me all the symptoms I had, low energy, lethargy, poor recovery and worry. I am no expert and not recommending you necessarily do the same but personally, I realised all this was the result of depression and since I started medication all this disappeared.
I had an eating disorder as well, and the extra weight stuck around for awhile. But now I’m back to my college weight with a flat stomach. It takes years, though, not months. And I’m a pretty “healthy” eater (like during my childhood) – 3 squares a day, not much junk food (If I really want something I eat it, but mostly real food). I really do think that’s important, despite some messages to the contrary on here.
Jib, I had those symptoms and I think it had to do with digestive damage. No clue if it’s some panacea, but I did one of those 30-day parasite cleanses from the healthfood store (herbal supplements) and my brain came back. I also stopped eating so much cheese and refined flour, and that did seem to help, too. Anyway, the point is sometimes I think you need some extra help to fix the ED damage. Like probiotics or digestive herbs or whatnot. Accupuncture might be helpful, too, if you’re open to it. My accupuncturist was the one who told me to go easy on the cheese, actually.
Just took my oral temp this morning at 5:30 and it was 97.6 F, so not as high as I was thinking.
I haven’t tried acupuncture, although I’ve added powdered ginger to my diet (1/4 tsp a few times a day) under the Traditional Chinese Medicine idea of dried ginger helping to ‘restore devastated yang’ and expel internal cold, which I definitely have symptoms of. Acupuncture is definitely on my list of things to try, though, and I’ve had an interest in TCM for years that I’d be interested to delve more into.
I take a probiotic supplement along with making water kefir and fermented vegetables on a regular basis. I was taking Diatomaceous Earth for a while and found that it did help. I never did a full ‘protocol’ on it though, or any other parasite or virus cleansing program, though.
Garrett, who I’m working with on a Hair Mineral Analysis program, sent me a protocol involving curcumin, lauricidin and something called lufenuron. I haven’t tried that yet either, but I think I might.
I have a bottle of American Biologics Thyroid Glandular and have been thinking about starting that again, although since by law they’re required to remove all T3/T4 from the supplement, I don’t know what it could do. I think this law might be recent based on the fact that on the old bottles of it, it said that it was an extract, and now it specifically says that it’s NOT an extract — and the thyroid tablets used to taste sweet, and now they taste bitter.
I’ve been keeping up with 180 for years, and continuing to struggle with all this stuff is starting to get to me. Especially as a young guy, finding it next to impossible to put on any muscle mass despite working out regularly, then even struggling to work out because it feels so depleting and I’m exhausted all the time —
— I was always skinny, and now I’m ‘skinny fat’ and my body looks like I’m almost twice the age that I am. I hear guys in their 40’s and 50’s complaining that they ‘just woke up one day’ and had a beer gut and was like ‘I never noticed that before.’ And they’ll tell me I’ll see what it’s like, and I’m like….uh, I’m like half your age and by the way, the belly I have on me is bigger than the one you have, so shut up. :p
Daylight Savings screwed me. I was working at 7:30AM every day, then they moved me to 6:30AM and wouldn’t compromise on that. And then Daylight Savings was a couple weeks after that, so before I even got used to waking up an hour earlier (5:30AM vs. 6:30AM), the clocks went ahead an hour.
I use a Litebook Elite and a 250W clear heat lamp bulb in a brooder lamp housing to get lots of light to help me wake up. I avoid blue light at night with f.lux on my CPU, and Twilight on my phone, as well as using lights from lowbluelights.com.
But my sleep still sucks and I can’t seem to get used to working so hard so early in the morning. Been there over 4 years now.
So many factors to consider…just have to keep trying.
Thanks for the replies everyone :) I appreciate the advice.
You could try seeing a holistic doctor or a very experienced herbalist. I think for a lot of people, just eating more isn’t enough to correct imbalances and damage. A lot of these symptoms show up in old medical texts and in folk medicine, and point to various degrees of organ dysfunction (things that wouldn’t necessarily show up on diagnostic tests until the damage is more visible).
I’m very confused about this. I lost 82 lbs on a very low-carb diet about 10 years ago and I’ve managed to keep off about 60 of it. I call that success, and I eat everything now. I’m not still eating low-carb and haven’t been for 8 years. How do you explain that?
Hi. Low carb is definitely not the same as low calorie. You would have to be in a pretty extreme caloric deficit (such as 50% of your caloric needs) for your body’s survival mechanism to kick in. Since protein and fat are naturally higher in calories, it is probable you were not in an extreme caloric deficit. That said, congratulations on your weight loss.
Stories like yours happen from time to time Laurel. Even my ex-girlfriend had a similar experience, losing lots of weight on low-carb, stabilizing, and then going back to eating a ton of carbs and not only NOT gaining the weight back, but getting leaner. Be grateful and take care of yourself and you very well may live happily ever after, functioning properly and staying perfectly weight stable.
Unfortunately, breaking a long stint of low carb has made me put on 12kg. I also have pressure from my husband to lose weight again and he thinks I don’t care. In fact, I really do care and don’t want to diet and mess up my metabolism again. I’ve started counting my calories on a smartphone app just to appease him. I’m curious to know how many calories I should be consuming a day while recovering from severe symptoms in my dieting hell. I currently consume about 1700 to 1900 a day dependent on how hungry I am. I’m a fairly active person and am feeling great most days. I’ve upped my exercise but not excessively. It’s so nice to have the energy to work out again. I don’t feel hungry or deprived but I want to assure my husband somehow that I haven’t lost all control. I also want to ensure that I’m eating enough to recover fully. I am currently 44 years old.
I’m guessing you weren’t overweight for long before dieting and losing it, right? The longer you’re obese, the more damage you accumulate (leptin resistance, insulin resistance, fatty liver, etc..), and the harder it is to lose weight.
How about monitoring HRV as a safety? Try moderate dieting, but if HRV goes down, back off. Track your weight using trending (like Hacker’s Diet Online tool). Unless there’s some great way to measure body fat.
I’m curious about unintended day to day caloric fluctuations. Say you have a busy day and you eat well but come up shy by 300 calories for what your body needed. Then you eat normally and cover your daily caloric needs all week but never make up for that 300 calories. Does the body still interpret that in a stressful way?
I think of this in terms of short-term adaptation and long-term adaptation, similar to how Scott talks about short-term weight loss and long-term weight gain in this article.
Day to day caloric fluctuations are probably not a big deal. The body is self-regulating and depending on emotional stress, physical activity, mental activity, etc., your caloric needs day to day will vary. I would bet that every single day of our lives our calorie needs are different, even if it’s only by a small amount. No two days are the same, after all. I never count calories and just eat until I’m full, but I’d be willing to bet that how much I feel full on varies day to day. Even if it’s not by much.
The only trap to watch out for is fluctuations becoming a habit. Like skipping breakfast, delaying lunch, not eating when you’re hungry, etc. Even putting off eating when you’re hungry for 30 minutes can turn into putting it off for an hour, and before you know it your lifestyle is messed up and on a regular basis you’re ignoring your body’s signals for food/water/rest/etc.
Same with sleep. I’m going to bed now, speaking of that. Going to bed a half an hour after you feel like you should’ve gone to bed isn’t good. I haven’t learned my lesson yet, lol.
But it works the same way with diet. Little fluctations are natural. But if you train yourself to deliberately ignore your body’s signals to eat/sleep/drink/etc., that can lead to problems pretty quickly as it becomes a habit.
I get the gist that previous energy deficit (diet or illness) “sensitizes” the body to caloric fluctuation.
Once upon a time I was able to undereat or overeat from day to day without any apparent consequence. Whereas now, my body slams on the metabolic brakes very easily, and quite frankly is completely haywire.
Is there a way we can nurse our systems back into order without signigicantly inflating to who-knows-what new setpoint? i.e. what biochemical signals do we need to convince our brains that abundant energy is reliably available again, and that it’s safe to function normally? could we hack that nutritionally? Yes I’m talking about the dreaded supplements.
I guess what I’m saying is OK, so the best treatment for metabolic dysregulation is prevention. But most of us here are beyond that.
For example, from what AnnB says above, it sounds like the prolonged absence of catabolic signals is key? It makes sense given prolonged catabolic signals are what got us into the mess. So could it be that what is required is to increase meal frequency enough (without going crazy-excess on the caloric surplus), in order to achieve normo-metabolism without gaining a tonne of fat?
Or is leptin the key and we simply need to become whales?
What about us with adrenal issues Matt? What’s best to eat to keep blood sugar steady? Thanks!
I ordered your new book with Dr Garrett Smith
Was the right article referenced above? I downloaded “Hepatic Response to a Very-Low-Energy-Diet and Refeeding in Rats” and the article cited only had two groups – control (C) and a very low energy consumption (VLEC) group. They also only looked at liver metabolism on comparison of the diets. Can you tell me where the reference to the 3 groups of mice came from?
The study cited only discusses the consequences of a 20% calorie reduction on the hepatic functioning of rats.
I agree with the sentiment of this blog post: that it is ideal to avoid metabolic damage if at all possible, and yo-yo dieting is stupid.
However, I would like to make the point that all dieting does not qualify as yo-yo dieting, and that most people who diet don’t cut their caloric intake by 50%.
Also, the rats you mentioned cut calories by 50% beneath what was presumably an ideal caloric intake for a rat, whereas most obese people cannot be said to have an ideal caloric intake, and so cutting their calories by 50% might bring them close to an ideal calorie range.
Also, the rats who were studied were not obese, or even overweight, which is an important distinction.
If we’re talking about people dieting when they are already at an ideal weight, and consuming 2,000 calories a day, then of course they shouldn’t diet, and they especially shouldn’t start suddenly eating 1,000 cals.
On the other hand, if we’re talking about fat people dieting, when their BMI is well out of healthy range, and they are eating over 4,000 calories a day, well then that is obviously a different animal entirely. If they cut calories in half, they’d be eating close to an average daily allotment for a sedentary person, and not starving like the already healthy individuals eating 1,000 cals a day.
Main point here is, I think it’s important not to discourage people from losing weight who can actually benefit from it. Let’s make the distinction between a vain 20-something who wants to get skinny for her wedding, and a whale who’s going to die 20 years early if they don’t lose weight.
Hazmatt makes some good points. The results of this study might have been very different if they used a more modest caloric deficit (like 10%), or if they had used obese rats. It does serve as a good warning to avoid diets that prescribe a drastic caloric reduction, and the HCG diet could well be over a 50% reduction in calories, in some cases it might be closer to 80%.
Also, of course, this was a rat study, so the results might not translate perfectly to humans. The rats also didn’t have a choice in this, this was something that was being done to them. People who go on diets will always have the option to change something or end the diet at any time if they need to.
Whale? Kindly be respectful. That one lapse ruined what was otherwise a well thought out comment.
Whales are beautiful, serene, and extremely intelligent creatures
One issue I see with myself is cravings for more food. I don’t understand why I want more food after i’m physically full. As a kid, my parents tell the story of me eating ice cream and at one point, bringing the spoon up to my mouth, pausing, and then putting down and saying “I’m done.” We lose this as adults. Why? After a full meal, I still have cravings for more food. These are not hunger signals. I don’t understand why people get a “mouth craving” for food when their body is full or even uncomfortably full. It’s like the reward system for food is broken.
I have a 2 yr old daughter who is an excellent eater, but she sometimes wants no food for a while and sometimes eats a lot (which we never restrict). It seems like kids naturally go through mini-cycles (over the course a day or few days) of eating a little and eating a lot.
I could be dead wrong, but I think this might be caused by lack of nutrients. The same thing used to happen to me. I’d be stuffed but still somehow hungry. When I started eating a more nutrient dense diet this compulsion went away… thankfully.
I’d say the “eating more food after full” thing is probably just due to acclimation to a certain style of eating. When I was younger, I never actively ate past appetite. Then I started trying to put on muscle, and actively eating past my hunger threshold. I got used to doing that, and it became very easy to just eat past appetite.
So, once you’ve overrode your natural appetite governing mechanism enough times, it kind of ceases functioning to a certain extent, at least in my experience, and you have to consciously monitor how much you eat in order to compensate for a lack of instinct.
Another cause of hunger is spiking and crashing your blood sugar. Starch does this, so try replacing some of the starchy carbs in your diet with sugar, keeping calories the same.
Laurel, thanks. I eat a pretty wide ranging and nutrient dense diet. I know Matt suggest eating some “junk” food but I mostly eat organic, healthy food with some junk thrown in to not restrict anything. We’re there specific nutrients or types of food that helped you most?
Thanks Hazmat. I’ve never tried to overeat but I don’t know. Sometimes I think it might be best to just go 110% into a craving. I think as adults we parcel out “treats” to limit them but in the end this creates a slot-machine like reward system where you only get a taste of your favorite foods (like ice cream) so you never crush the craving, you only tease it. This BF Skinner -esque reward pattern is actually what creates the craving. Kids will eat ice cream until they are almost sick, but then “most” won’t want more and may even be sick if it for a while.
Other times I just wonder if starving myself of sugar for so long in the Paleo diet has me craving anything sweet (although I do eat sugar now).
It seems like at first you are saying you aren’t hungry and are just eating because of “cravings”, but then in your second comment you are saying that you are actually hungry and don’t want ignore your hunger.
Could you elaborate on how starch causes more blood sugar spiking than sugar? I’ve always heard that sugar was the worst for this.
White sugar has a lower Glycemic Index than a lot of starchy foods, i.e. a bagel or potato. While a starch is glucose, “sugar” is glucose and fructose. The fructose is metabolized by the liver and doesn’t raise your blood sugar as quickly. You can check any glycemic index website and it will show you how refined sugar compares to other starches. The key to health is whether sugar is toxic to the liver (Dr. Lustig-conventional approach) or whether its beneficial to the liver (Ray Peat, etc).
I guess it depends on whether you think insulin really has that much of an effect on you. I believe it was Matt that said insulin is a low-carb boogeyman, which has been true in my experience. Excessive fructose is correlated with many issues, but most importantly it is not available to your muscles like glucose is. Interesting none the less.
I agree with you on insulin being a boogey-man for the low-carb crowd. Insulin has a lot of positive effects. It’s also true that fructose is not available for muscles but it does help the liver store glycogen and the liver provides glucose for the brain, which is extremely important. Some believe the feeling of low blood sugar is because of low availability of glucose to the brain, not the body, so if the brain is the master switch, you physically perform better by making sure you have enough liver glucose. When i was low-carb paleo, i constantly suffered the dreaded “carb-flu” where you have brain fog from lack glucose for the brain. I never seemed to adapt well to ketones, and when I added starches back it helped – somewhat, but adding sugar back into my diet solved my brain fog issue (without coffee).
I do agree that some rat studies have shown fructose consumption to be harmful but its usually when fructose is 60% or so of calories. That would take a incredibly specialized diet like drinking agave syrup or something.
I made the mistake of buying one of Scott’s books on metabolic damage a few years ago for about $60. The whole thing was nothing more than a collection of articles from his blog where he offered zero solutions and mostly just stroked his own ego about how much he knows and how little everyone else does.
He might have given a solution in the last few pages, but I quit reading it in disgust when I was about 80% through it.
So yea, if he’s offering that book for .99, that’s about right. Skip to the end, maybe there’s something useful there.
hello m8. been doing Diet Recovery about 4 months now.
best thing i ever did bar none. still quite nuts by most standards but life is improving all the time. loadsa energy and feel about a million % better. couldnt get out of bed 4 months ago and was on 7 medications.
very happy, cant thnak you enough.
i mention you quite a bit in my videos + audios where i talk nonsense incessantly due to all the energy.
mention you briefly in this one. https://vid.me/OYBF
cheers <3 party on fella.
Picked up Scott Anti-Diet book and gave it a read. I like his process approach to things, and letting go of the arbitrary and un-achievable goals. He has put bodybuilding in context, and if you want the challenge, gives you the tools to get there.
I’m not into bodybuilding any more than marathoning — seems a bit too extreme (5-7% bf!!) and may impact health over the long term.
Hi, wondering if any ladies have had a similar experience to mine…
I’ve always been really lean and have eaten like a horse. When I got pregnant I had really bad morning sickness and ate very little for 5 months – couldn’t keep much down, so lost a lot of weight. I put it on again and then some during the last few months.For about three months after the birth of my daughter my body temp was really high – felt hot all the time. I was breastfeeding, eating tonnes – especially potatoes, butter, eggs, pasta and milk – and losing the baby weight fast. I fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans only a month after the birth.
However, now 10 months post-partum, I’m about 15-20kg over my pre-pregnancy weight, I’m exhausted, achey, have low iron and vit D levels. I feel huge and blobby, and physically uncomfortable.
I’ve tried eating for heat for about 5 months now, but only put more weight on. My body temps are sometimes around 37C, but mostly around 36.5C. People keep suggesting low-carb, but I don’t know.
My little girl isn’t a great sleeper, so wondering if lack of sleep is maybe keeping the weight on? How does breastfeeding factor in?
Any suggestions would be great!Thanks!
Bek – check yr thyroid and adrenals??
Do check your thyroid. Pregnancy and giving birth can affect a woman’s thyroid hormones.
forgot to check follow up comments!
Matt,
You have been recommending Scott Abel’s work. Considering his thoughts on eating, especially in regards to sugar, fat, and salt, have your own opinions changed? Are they more in line with Scott’s now?
I like Scott, and I do think calorie-density and palatability are factors in weight regulation, but the belief that these substances are inherently fattening just isn’t really true. Only in a certain context are those foods problematic, such as with restriction.
Ahh, okay. Thank you for the clarification.
I am doing really well eating intuitively, and my weight has continued to normalize. I am dealing with a health crisis right now that may, or may not, have something to do with the aggressive, high stress, nature of the DR/MM method for recovery. I will not make a direct accusation though because I have no definitive proof, but I am suspicious for sure.
Have you had clients whose health seemed to be adversely affected by DR/EFH approach over time? If so, has it led you to believe that a more gentle recovery approach may be necessary for some?
I have yet to figure out exactly what’s happening to me – doctors are still trying to figure it out – but we do know it’s involving my immune system at this point. I began recovery having a known autoimmune disorder (Hashimoto’s). My gut feeling (no proof, hence no accusation) is that, with my body being in an autoimmune state, the more aggressive recovery nature of DR/MM may have been too much for my body to handle, and it ended up overwhelming it.
I have never heard this angle discussed before, especially when addressing recoveries that end up becoming extreme in nature. Naturally, with the state my health is in right now, I’m wondering if you know anything about this connection? I never considered this connection before recovery, but I’m sure wishing I had at this point. Is the autoimmune/recovery connection something you would be willing to look at and possibly do a post dedicated to it? Stress is a huge trigger for autoimmune conditions, both as a trigger for a current one, and as a trigger for setting one in motion.
PS – I know that correlation does not always equal causation, but sometimes it does.
Hindsight sure does suck sometimes!
Interesting post! Interesting ideas – maybe someone can give me a few ideas?
I am 57 yo female – former elite athlete (really elite 4th in world in my sport – very high VO2M, 5.5L lung capacity, able to keep HR within 5 beats of max for 20+ min – was a very much tested athlete due to unusual physiology – super efficient cardio vascular and metabolic system – apparently my mitochondria were super stars!). Retired at 42 yo – that made 20 years of training up to 5 hours a day pushing out high HR’s and heavy weights – was always super healthy and super energetic – ate pretty much whatever I felt like, but was always biased towards whole organic foods, lower protein – didn’t each a lot of meat, no chicken, very little seafood, very little bread or processed grains, ate whole rice and lots of fruit and veges. After retirement I kept fairly fit, kept fairly lean (was never a super lean specimen – obese family, I was the only athlete and broke that mold) until three years into owning a gym – long hours and lots of stress. I put on a little weight, but then I had a ruptured ovarian cyst that didn’t heal and ended with a few operations to clear up scar tissue and tumorous type growths from the ovaries, and to extract various body parts). I put on a lot of weight after that and have never been able to lose all of it. I wasn’t able to exercise for 3 years due to scar tissue and associated pain and have never picked up my fitness again (although my base level fitness is way above the average 57 year old’s) and never felt quite as ridiculously healthy or energetic.
Over the past 5 years I have tried nearly everything to lost weight – have successfully gone down from my peak post surgery weight to a level that is about 15kg above where I’d like to be. Just can’t seem to shake that 15kg!
I tried high protein with shakes and stuff – zilch!
I tried IF – it equates to me to very low calories – lost 5kg but couldn’t sustain the low cal’s – felt like a failure and put it back on again.
My latest effort was to try ketogenic.
Now, my elite athlete testing showed I was a very efficient fat burner in exercise, even up to fairly high intensities. I have no energy fluctuations at all and no changes in appetite or cravings or mental clarity, whether I eat carbs, no carbs or simply don’t eat! So eating low carbs is no issue with me.
However, after 6 months diligently reducing exercise (to minimize stress), and eating more protein than I ever have (still not as much as recommended – just not a big meat eater), restricting to two meals a day (not calorie restriction – between 1200 – 2000 a day which is my “normal” amount post intense training), and high fat (about 60% of cals – butter, coconut oil and natural DHA from fish and oysters) – I got another ruptured ovarian cyst, am getting fatter, have developed a small patch of “hard fat” on my outer thighs (never had hard fat anywhere – always fluffy), and my hearing is rapidly declining – for no apparent reason – started within a week of going high fat. My skin (always a bit oily) is worse with more little pimples coming up, and I have hot flushes again which I haven’t had for a while.
When I went down this path I made some lifestyle changes that I think are really important and I think they have actually made the difference to some of my energy levels, and the way I feel generally (going to bed early, getting up naturally for a walk on the beach at dawn, having a couple of hours of candle light before bed, and not eating too close to going to bed)
But I am concerned that the high fat, and maybe even the higher than normal for me protein consumption, does not suit me and may have caused the hormone disruption that brought on the ovarian cyst (I thought I was too old – and the last time I had this come up I was not eating my usual whole foods, was starting to buy into higher protein intake since I was in the fitness industry, and was overworking without enough good exercise and quality sleep)
I’m not overworking, have low stress, I’m getting great sleep and feel energized and motivated, BUT – I am still getting fatter and ended up with the bloody ovarian cyst!
Now I have to question again what is “right” for me. ????? This search has lead to finding this blog (and some others) that almost sound like heresy in the face of all the popular keto, paleo, high protein, high fat “backed by new scientific research” and “they got it wrong 50 years ago” stuff.
I know so many people getting great results on paleo or keto – but I wonder what the change is in contrast to, or what the long term effects will be. My own experience and the negative side effects I have had over 6 months (and its not from failure to fat adapt) – are ringing the alarm bells for me…..
I’m just not sure what to do next. I actually feel like giving up thinking about it and just throwing myself into feeling good about getting fit again and eating what the hell I want!
AGGHHH!
:-)
Congrats on your amazing sporting achievement!
I was low-carb for 2 years and lost my ability to exercise. Carbs give energy and glucose. Yes, in the beginning of starting a low-carb diet, it’s barely noticeable, but after a while the body takes strain. And when I was on paleo I’m convinced I ate a decent amount of calories. My plate was fuller than it is now yet I was always hungry.
I’m fatter now, but hey, I’d rather be like this then not able to do anything decent. I’ve even starting running again and can do a mean plank – sure I’m no athlete and I’m 44, so I’m not super fast (more like a shuffle) but I feel so young and energetic again (when I get enough sleep too)!
What I don’t understand is that some people swear that paleo / low-carb has healed them and made them stronger. I sometimes wonder if we’re all chemically so different. But I also wonder if they’re compromising their bodies without realising it, that eventually it will catch up on them. Also, that they are probably performing way below their best but don’t even know because of all the brainwashing. I’m sorry, but paleo is a bit like a cult – it has serious mind-bending and brainwashing aspects to it. It took me hitting rock bottom to realise that.
So sorry about your mom.
Oh, and by the way, I also used to get ovarian cysts on paleo. My hormones are much better since being on high-carb for over 9 months.
Thanks for that Kathy – my Mum passed away last year at a grand old 90 years old – eventually happily back being fat and eating whatever she wanted and relatively healthy again with minimal “old age” drugs.
Glad to hear that. Sorry for her passing.
Oh, just one other comment about my low carb concerns – maybe it’s psychological that I worry about the long term effects of keto diets – and maybe that’s why I think keto failed me – my mother – morbidly obese her entire life – went on the Atkins diet to lose weight so she could have a hip operation – this was some time ago now – she did lose 80 kg. Before Atkins she was perfectly healthy, had perfect blood pressure, no sign of diabetes, and no other symptoms of anything other than being obese. After Atkins she had a heavy shake in both her hands, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, poor memory, her already frail emotional state dove into deep depression and maybe even borderline bi-polar, and they put her on statins, anti depressants, blood pressure drugs and more. She had her hip operation, put on 120kg, hip replacement failed, couldn’t fix it because she now had lymphocema and was too fat again for surgery, etc etc etc.
Just got Matt’s Lesson 2 in the email inbox – high resting heart rate and high respiration?
My resting HR is 44 or even less, and big 5.5L lungs = not much need to fill them or use them often while at rest.
My circulation is very good, healing very good, hard to bruise and I recover from everything quickly, also blood oxygenation very good. No joint issues, no brain fog, hearing is crap, and eyesight – just reading glasses…..
Is my low resting HR and low respiration rate really a problem?
When I was an elite athlete I used a drop in my resting HR (under 40) and a drop in body temp as my primary indicator of over training, and would take a day off, or more, until both returned to “normal”.
Is this metabolic damage? Are the low HR and big lungs why I can’t lose that 10-15kg I want to? Is this why, no matter what I do with diet (as in macro nutrient make up, and quantity) and exercise (heavy weights, HIIT, none, aerobic endurance, etc – tried many variations), nothing changes?
I trained for years to achieve a very efficient cardio vascular system and I was tested and proven to have one of the most effective systems on the planet at the time.
I’m not sick, I’m not unhealthy, I’m not obese. I am post menopausal and late 50’s.
I just want to lose 10 – 15kg and get nearer to my athletic body shape from 20 years ago! I am at the point of giving up all “programs” and “gurus” and just eating whatever the hell I like and working out to achieve the level of fitness that I feel good at (one where I can enjoy some long runs in the bushland, or go paddle from Molokai to Oahu, or swim in big surf, or trek up a mountain if I wish, without it being too hard!) and to hell with how fat that makes me!
If I need to increase my resting HR and respiration rate – how does one do that?
:-)
A major slowdown in metabolism only begins after 3 days of fasting. Provided you refeed properly, there will be no damage.
I know this is an older post but I had a couple of questions.
1. Can you point me to anyone that has been quite overweight and has done this refeeding and did indeed go on (don’t care how long it took) to lose weight? I don’t mean they went on to be a size 2 ? I just mean someone who was, say over 200 pounds who went on to be 160 or something. I am currently 224 right now (not my highest) and to say I am scared to death to ?refeed? would be an understatement. I am not scared to gain a few more pounds, not even scared to gain 15 pounds ? what I am afraid of is gaining LOTS more weight. When I eat unrestricted I easily put on a pound a day. That means at the end of a month I would not be a ?few pounds heavier? but would be 30 pounds or more heavier. So I would be 254 and when would it stop?
2. I am also very curious about people that do eat unrestricted foods and amounts and are very overweight. I happen to know that my aunt and uncle have not dieted or restricted foods or amounts since I have been alive and they have both progressively gotten larger over the years. My aunt is now obese and has many health aliments and my uncle has diabetes and while not obese, he is very heavy. These are people that really truly eat what they want ? my aunt has always said it makes her happy to eat junk and shes not going to stop. It seems like her body would have started to lose weight at some point?.
I think that is it for now. As you can see, I am just learning about this. I printed out about 100 pages of posts and comments last night and have been reading through them. As a little background ? I am 35 years old, 224 pounds, mommy to 7 children 6 of whom I have nursed. I was a skinny kid until my mom got me put on steroids for my asthma around 10 years old. After that I was ?heavy? becoming obese (over 300 pounds ) with my first pregnancy at 17. I lost down to 160 at 21 by running. I did eat some ?low fat? foods but did not diet (not anything specific anyway ? days before the internet were a blessing in some ways ? I did not even know to ?diet? in a certain way). I ate cereal, donuts, meat, etc.. and the only veggies I ever bought were lettuce, onions and tomatoes to go on hamburgers. After marrying at 22 and having a few more babies I started not being able to take the baby weight off. At these time I went raw vegan and stayed that way throughout a pregnancy (about 2 years). I did not lose a lot of weight – probably down to 180. I then went to vegetarian and finally have been on a grain free diet after testing allergies to gluten, wheat and corn. A doctor told me he felt I would feel better off all grains. I feel that my health took a huge downturn after a bout with viral meningitis in 2009 – I have been over 200 pounds with extreme tiredness and lethargy since then. I have some severe adrenal issues with almost no cortisol levels. I am always extremely cold, becoming a hermit in the winter. I just recently started urinating ALL THE TIME. Like up every hour at night and all during the day. This is new and I have no idea why its happening – my chiropractor seems to think it is a sugar issue. The only way I have been able to lose weight is doing the HCG diet but have not been under 200 even with that in years. I am currently (recently) on Armour thyroid, cortisol, pregnenalone and lithothyromine. I dont want to stay on these forever! I did not want to get on them in the first place but I was unable to function anymore. Our family is planning on doing the GAPS diet to try and heal some gut issues with me and some of our children. I know you don’t like the GAPS diet. The son that I ate a raw vegan diet during pregnancy has severe violent reactions when he eats gluten or sugar. None of our kids are perfect of course but after taking him off all grains (as our whole family did when I started) we noticed a huge difference in him. We started watching and when he eats gluten or sugar he becomes violent. Our kids are usually quite sweet to one another (I am not lying here ? we are a pretty loving large family) and he was always the exception to the rule until we took out all grains. I just cant help thinking that healing our guts would be a good thing?.
Thank you for your blog though ? we all have the freedom to study and write about anything. I appreciate your study and insight here. I am hoping for answers to my questions and I am continuing to study this. I wish I could read the ebook but we do not have a way (that I can tell) to read the kindle version. I was hoping for a downloadable one that I could out on my computer and print out to read in the evenings. I am learning much on the website though! Thanks again.
Hi Bev – your weight will not shift if you’ve adrenal fatigue. Peeing sounds like a symptom. Do you have a good naturopath or functional medicine Dr? I did gaps for a year and a half (I had af and Leaky Gut). It helped me a lot and the fat is meant to be good for your hormones. The gaps Facebook group is really helpful. I also followed guidelines re when to eat (ie regular meals, always before 10am) and avoided some foods (high potassium due to sodium issues) as recommended by Dr lam I think (didn’t take his meds but his diet guidelines are good). I hope some of this helps. You donned help to recover from af. Good luck!!!
Liz,
I do indeed have severe adrenal issues and recently got Dr Lam’s book. My cortisol level is almost flatlined (hence the Hotze clinic putting me on cortisol so I can function). I do not have Addisons since my adrenals are somewhat working but I think that is the next step. We don’t have facebook but I am going to look for a GAPS yahoo account. I have not researched this website enough to understand why Matt is against GAPS but I can tell from the comments I am reading that he is. Thank you for your response!
I personally think GAPS will worsen adrenal issues. When I was severe in that regard and went on AIP, which is similar to GAPS, it made me worse. Any severe dieting maxes out the adrenal glands. From what I understand, you’ve had a diet mindset for a long time. Relaxing around food should heal you. I keep you in my thoughts. Get better!
Bev et al, my personal belief at the moment is that fat is a generalized protective mechanism. It may protect against chemicals in the food supply, past metabolic imbalances, or emotional baggage. Or all of the above. My thoughts on this have evolved since doing EFT or emotional freedom technique. I lost 30 pounds and I eat whatever I want. I did not eliminate any food groupor make any conscious effort to limit calories. The only thing that changed was that I lost the guilt associated with certain foods. Today I ate a bag of potato chips because they tasted good. I often eat several pieces of candy before bed. Actually for several weeks I ate package of Cheetos before bed every night until I lost interest. I have been at my target weight (between 135 and 140) for about four months now after steadily losing the 30 pounds over about six months . My husband who saw me lose the weight was mystified. I believe that once the guilt around certain foods is gone the body metabolizes it differently. Hope this might help someone and be interested to hear any other thoughts. I hope the new year sees health to all of you.
Tierney,
Thank you for your reply! I feel like I know you as the post and comments I printed out have tons of input from you!
I was thinking on this last night (before I read your comment) – how I would even begin to incorporate junk food with the food allergies I have. When I eat anything with soy (including animal meat or eggs from animals that eat soy) I have a terrible reaction. Heart palpatations, sweaty palms, headaches, etc.. I dont believe this is some sort of emotional response or anything since I used to eat LOTS of soy (during raw vegan, vegetarian, etc… – it was a “health food”). I did not even connect those dots until I eliminated everything and started adding things back in. I thought I was allergic to eggs as I had the reaction when I ate eggs but come to find out, if I eat eggs that are fed a soy free diet I am fine. I have had allergy test (for what they are worth) and did show intolerances to wheat, gluten, corn and soy (though my latest test did not say soy – I am chalking that up to the fact that I have not eaten it for so long since I still have the same reaction when I get “soyed”). So sadly alot of those foods are out for me. I have found soy free junk foods…
When I eat sugar I get a huge high – almost akin to drugs and then I crash and get quite moody. The kids tell me not to eat it! I am not sure what to do there. I am wondering why a GAPS type diet but with set meal times (since I don’t ever have hunger) wouldnt work. I don’t have a huge hangup with foods but I do know what I feel better eating and what I dont. Any person I have worked with though looks at my food intake and tells me I need to eat! I am lucky to get 1200 calories in – including when pregnant or nursing. I am just not a hungry person. I am going to work on eating more food. This morning I cooked bacon, sausage, and kale and put two fried eggs on top. Ate some cheese and a grain free biscuit also. I did not finish half of it but at least I ate breakfast (something I never feel like doing…). Thanks for the comments – I appreciate any help or input. I tried EFT along time ago but havent done it in years. I saw in one of your other comments that there is a youtube video on doing it – I am going to look at that. Thanks again!
And BTW – I cooked and ate those things because that is what I like to eat! Not because I felt like I “should” be eating kale! I LOVE a good sauteed kale egg dish in the morning. If I was making myself eat healthy I would have had a green smoothie :)
Sorry, I didn’t read your later comments about your food allergies. I think you probably need to eat at least 2000 calories a day to heal. It’s very hard without grains. Can you not try white rice as it’s non-allergenic? And eat lots of potatoes! Packed with energy. I developed food allergies from under eating. They are less severe since I’ve been eating enough. I can even eat bread! I know I’m healing! I feel great! GAPS probably can’t heal the gut as well as eating to increase transit speed of food in your gut. Meat, veggies and eggs aren’t enough. Eat carbs. I hope I’m not being too pushy but I’m speaking from my own experience.
I love rice and potatoes and are drawn to them as my go to grains. I was eliminating them based on my chiropractors advice to start GAPS in January. I know I undereat but its not on purpose – I am just not hungry. Not being too pushy at all. What I want is my gut healed so I feel better. I would love to be under 200 pounds someday but feeling better is my main goal. I want to play with my kids! When I weighed 160 pounds I was a size 8 – I know that a number on the scale doesnt mean a whole lot. I did not even know that was “odd” until I met other ladies that told me I could NOT weigh 160 pounds. My family was even starting to worry that I was getting “too skinny”. I just want to have energy and function again. Being able to eat bread again would be a plus :)
So after eating my breakfast I have not been hungry again all day. I don’t feel like I could eat another bite. I am craving peanut butter with chocolate chips though so I am going to try some of that. I am not hungry at all but just want the taste in my mouth – I guess that is okay. I know everyone probably feels like they have answered these questions a million times. I promise I am scouring the website to try and find answers but it is hard to search through everything. Thanks for all your input!
I think you MUST eat more, even if you’re not hungry. Your body is used to being in a famine state and has slowed your metabolism down to preserve you. You have to eat more calories to heal your metabolism. Eat more without making yourself sick. Maybe a bit more at each meal until your appetite increases and it comes naturally to you.
Chris Sandel is a nutritionist who works with people who have metabolic damage. He’s great – looks at everything you eat and takes into consideration your history and food allergies. You can find him here -http://www.seven-health.com/i-need-a-nutritionist/
Thank you. I was just reading an article by him on here
Hmm – looks like he is closed to new clients.
Another crazy question – I am noticing increased thirst today while trying to eat more. The strange thing about my increased urination I have been having is that I never drink as much as I am “supposed” to. I have been told to drink 1 gallon of water a day but I am lucky to get 1 quart down. I am confused as to where the extra liquid is coming from for me to be peeing so much! But today I have already drank my quart and am working on a second and am very thirsty… any reason for this?
Increased urination is one of the symptoms of lowered metabolism caused by not eating enough. Lol, I sound like a broken record. Wishing you the best.
Thank you Kathy for your responses. Eating more as we speak – and drinking more too. I hope that is okay :)